This is Survivor (Kresek, Joan 2011), my most recently completed painting that was not a commercial commission. It is 24" x 36", acrylic paint on gallery wrapped canvas.  It follows the theme of Shrine, which I have been working with for the past 15 years.   I grew up immersed in a religious household. Daily, I observed traditional shrines - saints in marble niches at church, homemade shoebox shrines at home, icons in plaster alcoves throughout the Catholic school, bathtub Marys in neighborhood yards and sculptures of martyrs in rock grottos in alleys. I was awed by the presentation. Frequently, when making compositional choices for still life painting, the idea of placing subjects that appealed to me in a shrine-like setting seemed natural.  Although sometimes I used official religious figures, the sacred idols in my paintings are usually nature’s creatures and symbolic portraits of people that have passed through my life, presented in a setting that suggests reverence. I'm sure that I will continue this direction in some way, but am also working with other elements.